The King of the Beggars (The Saint TV Series)

Plot
In Rome the Saint discovers that there is a protection racket targeting the local beggars who must relinquish part of their alms to a person known as the 'King of the Beggars'. A young actress, Theresa, has gone undercover as a beggar woman to try and find out the identity of the 'King' and the Saint joins her, also posing as a beggar. He is taken to a hostel run by a kindly American who is a friend of a philanthropic Contessa. Staff at the hostel drug him and thugs kidnap Theresa. It is down to the Saint to escape and unmask the so-called king.

Trivia

 * Guest star Oliver Reed suffered a concussion during the filming. Roger Moore explained in his book that Reed was supposed to be lying dead on the floor as he went into his closing narration. Moore heard noises and thought initially that Reed was trying to play a joke on him. Moore looked down, saw that his tongue was hanging out and changing colors, immediately dropped down to assist him, and demanded that someone get the studio nurse. Reed survived and even returned to the series for another guest spot.
 * Yvonne Romain and Oliver Reed had previously appeared in the following films: "Curse of the Werewolf" in seperate scenes and "Captain Clegg."*It's a famous rumor that Oliver Reed was considered to replace Sean Connery for the James Bond series... which went to Roger Moore.
 * British actor Oliver Reed uses an Italian accent in this episode, and an American accent in his other Saint episode.
 * The story of beggars working for the same man was teased upon in the Film Noir "Night and the City" years earlier.
 * Oliver Reed and Warren Mitchell would work together in The Assassination Bureau.

Origin
This episode was adapted from the novella of the same name from the 1948 book Call for the Saint.